The Importance of
Character Education in Our Public Schools
Dear Parents and Community Members,
As parents and educators, we want our children to have solid academic skills in
reading, writing, and mathematics. We want them to have solid content knowledge in the
social sciences and science. We know they need to be problem solvers, think
critically, demonstrate initiative, and have the ability to be lifelong learners. We
want them to demonstrate perseverance and recognize the importance of effort as well
as talent and to pursue their passions. We want them to be minimally, if not fully,
engaged in the arts, humanities, athletics, speech and debate, student government, and
community service. But most of all, we want our children to have an ethical compass
and strong sense of character.
Character is at the heart of who we are, and we develop the seeds of this character at
a very young age. Our character helps us sort out right from wrong, our social and
civic responsibility, and making healthy choices for ourselves and others.
Public schools have shied away from character education over the recent decades for
what have become the social wars of our society and conflicting views and beliefs.
Fortunately, the federal government set in place a bipartisan effort that was signed
by the President of the United States to support character development. The program is
called “Character Counts.” Due to a very generous gift of $1 million from Dave
Bender, a community member, we have been able to train our staff and parents in the
Character Counts program. Twenty-one of our schools have now completed the training
and fully implemented the program. By the end of next year, we plan to have the
program in place in all of our schools. In just over two short years, the program is
touching the lives of our children in positive and powerful ways. Just this past week,
as an example, I attended the dedication at Shoal Creek Elementary of a Character
Counts mural that had been painted by one of our parent volunteers.
The program is built around six pillars
of character:
- Trustworthiness
- Fairness
- Responsibility
- Respect
- Caring
- Citizenship
Having a common language that students, teachers, and parents can explore to
understand the more subtle meaning of these words and bring them to awareness and
action pre-K through high school is very powerful. These universal values can be found
across cultures, religions, and belief systems.
Our teachers and school site administrators can use these six pillars in the context
of better understanding the events of history, an art project, understanding the
ethical dilemmas facing science, or interpreting the motivations and actions in a
novel. Character Counts is not another book or curriculum, but rather a framework to
understand one’s actions and to provide guidance. It can be used throughout the
course of our curriculum and helps provide a much richer education experience for our
students.
We feel very fortunate to offer the program and, if you have not yet become involved
in the project or would like to know more, we encourage you to link to our character
education web page.
For those parents and staff who have been involved in the Character Counts program,
the response has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive.
Sincerely,
Don Phillips
Superintendent
STUDENT, SCHOOL AND DISTRICT
RECOGNITIONS
These are examples of the fine accomplishments occurring at our schools every
day.
STUDENT AND SCHOOL RECOGNITIONS
These are examples of the fine accomplishments occurring at our schools every day.
The following students have been selected through audition to participate in the 2005
California All-State Honor Bands. There were 1,000 applicants throughout the state.
Formal concerts will be presented on February 19 and February 20 in Fresno at the
California Band Directors Association annual convention.
Mt. Carmel High School: Tiffany White, Lauren Moses, Joleine Bigcas, Mihail Pentov,
and Daniel Martin
Westview High School: Paul Yong
Dave King, Chaparral Extended Student Services Instructional Assistant, will
provide entertainment following the keynote speaker at the California School-Age
Consortium (CALSAC) Conference which will be held in San Diego from March 17-19. The
Stomp Band he created with his Extended Student Services Mentor Program last summer
has reunited in order to perform. These students are now attending PUSD middle
schools. They are: Jeff Carter, Matthew Davis, Alexis George, Kevin Glenn, Clifford
Harrison, Nicole Hornef, Lindsey Jacobson, Michael Lewin, Matan Malka, Alicia
Martinez, Rebecca Moore, and Skyler Warren.
STAFF RECOGNITION
Jani Tyler, a class helper in the Highland Ranch Special Education Preschool,
will be representing the United States in the winter Special Olympics. She will be
traveling to Japan on February 20 to compete in ice-skating.
Miguel Carrillo, Black Mountain Middle School principal, was a guest panelist
for National Public Radio’s KPBS San Diego These Days program on February 2, 2005.
Miguel spoke about single-gender classes and the pilot program at Black Mountain.
The annual statewide California School-Age Consortium (CALSAC) Conference will be held
in San Diego from March 17-19. Leslie Granger, Extended Student Services Assistant
Director, and Jan Rogers, Park Village Extended Student Services Supervisor, serve on
the CALSAC Council and the conference planning team. The following PUSD staff are
scheduled to present at the conference:
Linda Foote, Technology Trainer, and Extended Student Services Instructional
Aide Tegan Coleman will present Planned Learning Through Project-Based Fun.
Deb Pint, Character Counts! Program Coordinator, and Extended Student
Services Instructional Aides Jackie Sweet and Gracie Villalon will present When
Character Counts!
Barbara Hammons, Midland Extended Student Services Supervisor, will present
two workshops: Working with Parents and Effective Communication in the Workplace.
Jan Rogers, Park Village Extended Student Services Supervisor, will present
with staff Project Approach to Extended Learning.
Martha Ahrens, a New Directions teacher, presented a workshop entitled, “Reading
Comprehension Strategies,” at the California Consortium for Independent Study on
February 10, 2005. The workshop focused on modeling mental interaction with the
text, using existing knowledge to make sense of new information, and tackling the
text to determine what is important.
DISTRICT RECOGNITION
Mesa Verde Middle School has been recognized as an AVID (Advancement Via
Individual Determination) National Demonstration School for the 2004-2005 school year.
This is the second year the school has received this honor. Barbara Hensley and
Terri Wiley are the AVID instructors at Mesa Verde.
Bernardo Heights Middle School students were awarded a $5000 Technology Grant
by Time Warner for their efforts with the San Diego Food Drive. Bernardo Heights was
the top contributor for middle schools in San Diego County. A total of 6,109 pounds of
food was collected.
Chaparral Elementary School has been chosen as a finalist for the National
Schools of Character Award. Eighteen schools in the United States were chosen by the
Character Education Partnership in Washington, D.C. for this prestigious award. An
extensive narrative application was submitted. A visitation by the Character Education
Partnership is scheduled for March 2005. Ten schools will be selected for the award.
Those involved in the application process were the Chaparral ECHO/Human Relations
Committee: Holly Brommer, Chaparral principal; Traci Acers, Chaparral
counselor; Scott Rinehart, Chaparral third grade teacher; Dave Carson,
Chaparral third grade teacher; Christina Glady, Chaparral first grade teacher; Amy
Fousek, Chaparral K-1 teacher; Olivia Cheadle, Chaparral fifth grade
teacher; and Joy Leinow, Project ECHO Program Coordinator. Project ECHO stands
for Every Citizen Honoring Others, which is a federal grant program.
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